Nutrient–chlorophyll relationships in tropical–subtropical lakes: do temperate models fit?

Abstract

In tropical lakes relatively little is known about the general relationship between nutrient concentration and phytoplankton biomass. Using data from 192 lakes from tropical and subtropical regions we examine the relationship between total P (TP) and chlorophyll (Chl). The lakes are all located between 30° S to 31° N include systems in Asia, Africa, and North and South America but are dominated by Brazilian (n=79) and subtropical N. American (n=67) systems. The systems vary in morphometry (mean depth and lake area), trophic state as well total N (TN) to total P (TP) ratios and light extinction. Despite a nearly 500-fold range in TP concentrations (2–970 µg P l−1), there was a poorer relationship between log TP and log Chl (r 2=0.42) than is generally observed for temperate systems from either narrow or broad geographic regions. N limitation is not a likely explanation for the relatively weak TP-Chl relationship in the tropical-subtropical systems. Systems had high average TN:TP ratios and neither a multiple regression with log TP and log TN nor separating systems with high TN:TP (>17 by weight) improved the predictive power of the log TP-log Chl relationship.